Cleaning apparatus



`une 23, 1925.

E. GEIGER CLEANING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Original Filed Aug. 18, 1921 .MNI

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E. GEIGER CLEANING APPARATUS `Original Filed Aug. 18, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W/ T/VESSES I INVENTOH A TTUR/VEYS Patented June 23, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGEN GEIGER, OF KARLSRUHE, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM DOLIER, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

CLEANING APPARATUS.

Application filed August 18, 1921, Serial No. 493,435. Renewed January 29, 1924.

(GRANTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS 0F THE ACT 0F MARSH 3, 1921, 41 STAT. L., 1.313.)

T o all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EUGEN GEIGER, a citizen of the German Republic, and a resident of Karlsruhe, Germany, have invented a new and Improved Cleaning Apparatus, for which I filed application in Germany, under date of May 1, 1917, and which has matured into a patent bearing date of December 19, 1917, and No. 302,349, and of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is the provision of a cleaning element such as a brush which is adapted to cooperate with a screen surface of any character and to further cooperate therewith in such a manner that it will at all times be pressed into contact with said surface with sufficient force to insure an efficient removal of any foreign matter. g

Broadly speaking, it is well understood that the foregoing construction has already been suggested and adopted in certain instances. However, it has been found in connection with the utilization of this structure that a relatively great amount of power must be utilized in effecting an operation of the cleaning element and further in that the structure presented is quite complicated.

These objections are due to the fact that it has been customary to provide a shaft and a cleaning element upon said shaft, said cleaning element usually taking the form of a brush, and mechanism has been utilized which served to press the brush into contact with the surface to be cleaned by bodily moving the shaft with which the same was associated.

Thus, my invention aimsV to provide a cleaning element preferably in the nature of a brush, which cleaning element will be mounted upon a shaft, which shaft, however, remains in one plane, the mechanism for properly pressing the cleaning element into contact with the surface to be cleaned being disposed at the points of connection of the shaft with the cleaning element.

By this construction obviously the difiiculties heretofore encountered will be overcome in that the mechanism may be greatly simplified with regard to its construction and also the operation will be far more efficient aside from the fact that the cost of construction will also be materially lessened.

the invention.

Figures 6 and 7 are sectional views taken on the lines 6-6 and 7-7 of Figure 5; and

Figure 8 is an end view of still another form of apparatus by means of which the result desired may be accomplished.

It will be seen, reference being had to Figures 1 and 5, that the reference numeral 10 indicates a surface to be cleaned, to each side of which supporting elements, such as walls 11, are provided, these walls serving to mount U-shaped members 12 forming trackways extending longitudinally of the surface to be cleaned.

It will be noted that the lower arm of each of the members 12 provides a supporting surface 13 and the. upper arm thereof a segmental rack 14. A carriage 15 is provided with rollers 16 which rest upon the supporting surfaces 13 of said members.

A frame is preferably with the carriage 15 and provides bearings 18 through which the ends of the shaft 19 extend. Secured to the outer ends of this shaft are gear wheels 20 having teeth which mesh with the racks 14 so that as the frame 17 is reci rocated along the supporting surfaces 13 ormed by the members 12 the engagement of said gear wheels 20 with said racks 14 will cause the shaft 19 to rotate in its bearings.

Attention is now particularly directed to Figures 1, 2 and 3 and it will be seen in these views that a number of disks 21 are secured to the shaft 19 and disks 22 are also attached to the hollow drum 24 constituting the body of the brush 25. Pins 26 are affixed to each of these disks and with avieW of connecting the disks one to the other it formed integrally` will be seen that links 27 are provided having their opposite ends connected to adjacent pins 26, each of which is carried by one of said disks.

Thus, a connection between the brush and shaft is established through the links 27, which connection permits of a rocking movement of the brush with respect to the shaft. By this it will be obvious regardless of the fact that the shaft 19 travels in a fixed plane, that the brush 25 will be capable of sufficient rocking movement to adjust itself to and follou7 any inequalities in the surface l0 to be cleaned. Further, it will be understood, attention `being invited to Figure 4, that it is not essential in this type of device that the disks 2l and 22 be of the construction shown in Figures 1 to 3, but if it is desired a. disk 23 may be substituted for the disk 22 and this disk 23 is of a character particularly adapted for use in connection with a brush 27 having closed end portions 25.

lf it is found that the weight of the brush is so excessive as to result in a crushing of the bristles thereof, or any damaging of the surface l0 to be cleaned, it willy be seen that this objection may be overcome by reason of the fact that l preferably provide a bracket 28 affixed to each bearing 18 and as has been illustrated in Figures 5, 6, and 7, this bracket may serve as a mounting for an element which Will act to eliminate this difficulty. Thus, it will be noted in these figures that the bracket 28 carries a spring-pressed bolt 29 which in turn carriesrollers 30, these rollers contacting with the flanges 3l of the disks 22.

` Preferably a stop is provided in each of the forms shown in Figs. 6 and 8 to limit the upward motion of the brush under the pressure of the counterbalancing devices so that the spring-pressed bolt 29 in the one case or the weight lever 3l in the other will not lift the brush above its working level. Such stop may be a roller, as 34, attached to some fixed part of the supporting devices and contacting, withi the same flanges as the rollers 8O or 33, Ibut below the center of the shaft.

rlhus, in the operation of this device the same results achieved in the construction illustrated in Figures l to 4, are accomplished but in addition to these results the cleaning element comes'in only yielding contact with the surface to be cleaned in that the major portion of the weight of the cleaning element is supported by the springpressed bolts.

Finally, reference being had to Figure 8, it will be seen that as in Figures 5 to 7 the major portion of the weight is relieved by a device provided for this purpose. Thus, in this latter instance weighted levers 31 are pivotally associated as at 32 with the brackets 28 and these levers carry rollers 33,

which also cooperate with the ange portions 31 of the disks 22. The effect of the weighted levers 81 is to counterbalance the weight of the brush and thus prevent an excessive pressure of the latter upon the screen l0.

From the foregoing it will be understood that all the objects set forth in the preamble of the specification have been accomplished and it will be further understood that numerous modifications of the structure might readily be resorted to without departing from the scope of my claims, which are- 1. A cleaning apparatus including driving shaft, a cylindrical brush surrounding said shaft and a plurality of non-flexible links each pivotally connected at one end to said shaft and at the other end to said brush, each of said links being movable about its pivots in a plane at right-angles to the axis of said shaft.

2. A cleaning apparatus including a driving shaft, a cylindrical brush surrounding said shaft and a plurality of non-flexible links each pivotally connected at one end to said shaft and at the other end to said brush, each of said links being movable about its pivots in a plane at right-angles to the axis of said shaft, said links being all of the same length and having their pivotal connections equidistantly spaced around theaxis of the shaft and the axis of the brush, respectively.

3. A cleaning apparatus including a rotatable driving shaft, a continuous cylin- 09 drical brush*I surrounding said shaft, driving connections between the shaft and the brush arranged to permit the brush to be moved bodily by gravity out of axial aline- Inent with the shaft, said brush having an 105 interior track surface, and means for yieldingly supporting said brush against gravity, comprising a member yieldingly pressed upwardly into contact with said track surface.

4. A cleaning apparatus including a ro- M0 tatable driving shaft, a continuous cylindrical brush surrounding said shaft, driving connections between the shaft and the brush arranged to permit the brush to be moved bodily by gravity out of axial alinement il@ with the shaft and weight-controlled levers for yieldingly supporting said brush against gravity.

5. A cleaning apparatus including a rotatable driving shaft, a continuous cylindrical 120 brush surrounding 'said shaft, driving connections between the shaft and the brush arranged to permit the brush to be moved bodily by gravity out of axial alinement with the shaft, means for yieldingly sup- 125 porting said brush against gravity, and a fixed stop to limit the upward motion of the brush.

6. A cleaning apparatus including a rotatable driving shaft, a continuous cylin- 1130 drical brush surrounding said shaft, driving connections between the shaft and thebrush arranged to permit the brush to be moved bodily by gravity out of axial alinement with the shaft, Weight-controlled levers for yieldingly supporting said brush against gravity, motion of the brush.

7. A cleaning apparatus comprising a reciprocatory carriage, a traokway on which said carriage is supported and having 0pposedflanges one o which forms a supporting surface, a rack carried by the other flange and extending in parallel relation to said supporting surface, a roller carried by said carriage and engageable With said supporting surface, a shaft rotatably mounted in said carriage, a gear carried by said shaft and arranged in the same vertical plane with said roller and engageable with said rack to rotate said shaft when the carriage and a fixed stop to limit the upward is reciprocated, and a cleaning element carried by said shaft.

8. A cleaning apparatus comprising a reciprocatory carriage, a trackway on which said carriage is supported and having opposed flanges one of which forms a supporting surface, a rack carried by the other flange and extending in parallel relation to said supporting surface, a roller carried bysaid carriage and engageable with said supporting surface, a shaft rotatably mounted in said carriage, a gear carried by said shaft and arranged in the same vertical plane with said roller and engageable with said rackto rotate said shaft when the carriage is reciprocated, a cleaning element carried by said shaft, and connections between said shaft and cleaning element for yieldingly supporting the latter with respect to a surface to be cleaned.

e EUGEN GEIGER. 

